Acceptance
by EmberFalcon
Summary: Has the thought ever occured to you that someone out there might accept me?


Yep, I'm bringin' in the New Year with a new one-shot! To be honest, I had the idea pop in my head about a week ago, around Christmas, but I figured this wasn't exactly a "holiday friendly" fic, so I thought it best to wait for this one. Flames will just be used to make delicious s'mores!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, the manga would have ended and the anime would have continued by now. Thanks, Rumiko Takahashi, thanks a lot sweat drop.

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He could feel the dread filling his veins.

Well, to be more precise, it wasn't exactly _dread_ that was setting in, but more like…unease, like something was bound to go wrong.

But why would he have such feelings? Nothing in their last two days of travel foreshadowed anything dangerous or harmful in the slightest; since Naraku's defeat, there had been almost no need to raise his inherited fang to defend him or his pack-

Okay, so there had been a few instances where demons came seeking the sacred jewel, but once they found that their opponents were the slayers of Naraku, they were either killed or they left without a fuss (though usually, they needed to be killed). Those instances had steadily grown fewer and farther between in the last four months since Naraku's demise, so Inuyasha still couldn't figure out what had his skin crawling in displeasure.

Perhaps it was because Kagome was not with him? It was true that in the last four months Inuyasha had finally gotten up the nerve to inform the priestess of his feelings for her, and she returned those feelings wholeheartedly. In that time frame, they had steadily eased themselves into their relationship- nothing too intimate just yet- chaste kisses, hand holding, and warm embraces were as far as they had gone. But that was fine with them; they were simply building a strong foundation for their relationship. Could her absence be the cause of his distress?

No; though it unnerved him that she wasn't with him, he knew she was at home, through the well to restock on medical supplies; they had run out when Kagome had recently been half way through with tending to Sango's injuries from their last encounter with a horde of demons. The wounds were nothing fatal mind you, but enough to merit her immediate medical attention. Miroku would have gladly helped take care of his wife, had he not fallen ill with fever. Herbs could cure his ailment relatively fast…but that was a problem; Kagome had run out of herbs in their stock from travels, and Kaede's herb garden was useless this time of year, so that left them with only one of two options- ask a neighboring village's apothecary for the needed herbs, or wait until Kagome came back with medicine from her time. The latter choice would have been the easier one, but Miroku insisted that his wife be taken care of before him.

So that left Inuyasha to go to the nearest village Kaede knew of to ask for the needed herb. Perhaps it was the blistering cold snow that he was trudging through, or the blizzard that had hit, but the feeling of unease was unshakable for the hanyou.

He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a village come into view, but choked on the breath when the stench of human blood assaulted his nose. The scent, mixed with the stagnant odor of death was so potent that he was forced to cover his nose with his sleeve as he continued.

He walked solemnly through the village, mindful not to step on the corpses that lie in great abundance in the area. The snow around his feet was tainted with the blood that splattered from the bodies it used to sustain, painting a much more gruesome picture for all to see.

"A raid," he muttered to himself as he continued onward. Maybe there were some survivors that could help him.

So, he thought grimly. That explained the feeling of dread.

His keen canine senses picked up life in several huts a few meters ahead of him, confirming that at least half the village survived. But the hut with the weakest life force in it also held the faint scent of herbs, which is why he headed in its direction. He reached its curtain door and brushed it back carefully to peek inside. Sure enough, an old man, unharmed, but still shaken quite a bit, sat huddled in his home. Seeing the foreign young half-demon, he curled into a tighter ball in fear. Inuyasha winced, trying not to act hurt from the all-too familiar reaction to his appearance before he asked gruffly, "Are you hurt?"

After a few moments, the aged man realized that the hanyou meant him no harm and relaxed considerably. "No, I'm alright; I was one of the lucky ones."

"What happened here?"

"Bunch of damned bandits did this," the old man shook his head grimly. "They came claiming to look for demons in the village. They tore apart virtually everything in the village…even my herb shop is in shambles," he gestured to the splintered wood and broken furnishings lying about the floor. Inuyasha's ears perked up at the mention of what he needed.

"I came here in search of herbs that can cure fever. Do you have any I could buy?" The old man smiled wearily, as if he finally fully believed that he wasn't in any more danger, or perhaps, because he could stave off this nightmare for a little longer.

"Yes I do, lad. Just a moment," the man stood shakily and stumbled his way to the counter, where he kept several pressed herbs, crushed herbs in vials, and fresh herbs hanging to dry. After clumsily rummaging through some of the dried ones with his old wrinkled hands, he finally withdrew two small vials of crushed herbs needed to cure the mentioned ailment. "Here my boy, I won't charge you," he wheezed. Surprised, but grateful, Inuyasha took the vials and safely tucked them into his robes.

"If there's nothing more I can do, I'd better get going," he turned to leave.

"Just a few words of caution, before you go," the old man said urgently. "You're a demon, aren't you?" The old man missed the subtle flinching of Inuyasha's shoulders.

"I'm a hanyou," Inuyasha answered shortly.

"My apologies for that, but I only ask because of those bandits. They say that they want to 'cleanse the human world of all who possess demon blood,' or something of the sort. Be on your guard," he warned.

"I will."

------

"Do you think he made it alright?" Shippo asked innocently to Sango. Though she was tired, she felt compelled to stay awake and keep watch in the hut; Miroku had succumbed to slumber due to his high fever, and had been in his comatose state for nearly two days now, so the chances of him getting up were rather slim.

"Don't worry Shippo, I'm sure he's already on his way back," she replied wearily as she rested her head against the wall behind her. Sure enough, moments later Inuyasha pulled the door flap back and entered the hut.

"Ah, perfect timing, Inuyasha!" Kaede exclaimed. "Have ye got the herbs I require then?" Inuyasha merely nodded and handed the aged priestess the vials of crushed plants she had asked him to get. She took them gratefully and began to boil them for Miroku to drink. Seeing his business done with her, the hanyou walked over to the corner opposite Sango and Miroku and sat against the wall beside Shippo and Kirara.

"Has Kagome come back yet?" He asked, attempting to sound nonchalant about bringing up the topic. Sango was too sore from her wounds to really answer with more than a moan, so she left Shippo with the task of giving him a more coherent response,

"No, but she should be back soon," he paused a moment and thought it over, "but with the storm, I'm not so sure that it would be all that safe to come through the snow." As if to agree with him, Kirara let out a soft purr and rested her head in the kitsune's lap. He petted her affectionately in return.

As Miroku stirred to drink the medicine Kaede had made, a sudden sound of approaching hoof beats and what seemed like muffled battle cries filled the air. Everyone looked up to the unexpected noise.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Inuyasha growled to no one in particular. Then a sudden thought struck him- was it that group of bandits that old man had mentioned? It would be no coincidence that they arrive here only moments after he left their recent targeted village, but why here and why now? _"They say that they want to 'cleanse the human world of all who possess demon blood,' or something of the sort. Be on your guard,"_ the old man's words echoed in his head. A chill ran down his spine, and he knew that it wasn't from the cold outside.

"Ye would do well to stay inside," Kaede said to the group as she stood. "I'd best get to the bottom of this disturbance," she exited the hut. After a few moments of eerie silence, they heard a gruff male voice call out to the small village,

"Listen here! All who carry demon blood come out now, or we'll raid every damn building 'till we find you!" Inuyasha growled. So, the bastards did come here, eh? He made a move to stand, but Shippo gripped the leg of his hakama in an attempt to keep him in place.

"Inuyasha, wait-"

"If I don't come out, they'll just tear down every damn hut in this fucking village until they find one of us with demon blood. I'd rather it be me than Shippo or Kirara,"

"But Inuyasha," Sango was the one to interject this time. "At least take one of us with you, to make sure we can drive them out with as little fighting as possible," she suggested, but the hanyou refused.

"No, neither you nor Miroku are in any shape to move. I'm not about to have your deaths on my conscience, so stay here and don't go outside, understand?" The group reluctantly nodded their answer. Without another word, he pulled back the tattered cloth and walked out of the door. His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and he spotted several rogue samurai, some on foot, some on horses towering over Kaede, swords drawn and poised to kill. They all switched their gazes to him as he made his way over.

"This is it?" One of the men perched atop his horse asked as Inuyasha approached. Kaede fidgeted nervously, so the hanyou took it upon himself to answer for her.

"Keh, what the hell do you think this is, a demon nesting ground? Yeah, I'm it, now what do you bastards want?" One of the samurai on foot looked him over a moment before commenting,

"You're a half-breed," not for the first time that day, he flinched inwardly at the insult, though he scolded himself; he should be used to that name by now.

"What of it?" One of the men on horse let out a peal of laughter.

"See here, men!" The same man, their apparent leader called to his minions from his horse. "We came seeking youkai, and ended up with a half-breed bastard!" Cheers and cruel laughter rose from the men as they raised their swords in glee. Inuyasha knew all to well what they wanted- he had run from people like these when he was a pup, saw that same glint in their eyes, that desire for blood.

They wanted his life.

"Keh, you think that you weak humans can kill me?" He smirked coldly at them, knowing that none of them were a real threat to him, even banded together as they were. His claws could dispatch them all easily. It might be messy, but it would get the job done.

"Make no mistake, hanyou- we will shed your blood this night," the leader said calmly. "Or if you truly insist on living, tainting this land with your existence, then we will simply have to slaughter the village you reside in," as if to prove his point, faint screams of a village woman could be heard as three of the leader's men dragged her by the hair into view. Two men held her arms, and the other pressed a blade to her neck. "The choice is yours."

_'Damn it,'_ Inuyasha swore mentally. Now he knew his hands were tied. He could dispatch their leader, but he was pretty sure, thanks to his nose, that there were other men scattered throughout the village, waiting for their signal to go on a killing spree. Should he allow his friends, and his intended mate (if she came back while they were still there) to be put in such jeopardy, he would not be able to live with himself. He knew that they were capable of handling themselves, but it was a risk that he was not willing to take.

So, with one final growl of defeat, he slumped to his knees. "Fine, do what you will to me. I don't give a damn. But leave the villagers alone. They had nothing to do with this," he demanded. The leader of the samurai nodded.

"Of course," he dismounted his horse and drew his blade. "But to ensure that you do not try anything," he gestured for someone behind Inuyasha. "Restrain him." Though he sensed their presence before, he did nothing as he felt his arms being forced over his head as he was pushed against a woodworker's hut; he would have fought, but that villager's life was still in his hands, and he couldn't give them an excuse to kill her or anyone else in the village. He felt the cold sting of chains looping tightly around his wrists, chaining him to a metal bar that supported the hut's roof. He struggled at first, but one of the samurai dug the hilt of his blade into Inuyasha's side, and he swore he felt something crack in his ribcage. Inuyasha let out a hiss of pain and coughed up a little blood, but otherwise gave no hint that he was in pain. He raised his head in time to see the men all close in on him, blades of all sizes drawn and craving his blood. He struggled against the chains, but thanks to a monk's charm, they held fast even against his demonic powers.

---

Shippo watched in absolute horror as they chained his father figure to the old woodworker's shop and attacked. Suddenly, he found that his legs would not move; he was frozen on the spot, unable to even pry his eyes away from the terrifying scene yards ahead of him. Sango pulled the trembling kitsune into her lap, minding her injuries, and shielded his eyes from outside. She knew that should she go out there, she would not only further endanger herself, but that woman that they still held hostage; should she try and help her friend, they may kill that innocent woman, and she knew that neither she nor Inuyasha would want to have that on their conscience for the rest of their lives. And Miroku had blacked out again, this time an effect of the herbs, so it wasn't like they could use his position as a monk to get them anywhere.

Kaede walked back to the hut with her head hung in shame. Her one working eye, the one not shielded with an eye patch, welled up in tears because he was once again saving this village from sure slaughter. She had attempted to use her priestess standings to drive them off, but they merely laughed at her, knowing that her powers had waned with her old age. Her back turned to the scene, knowing that Inuyasha would physically survive the ordeal, but mentally, he would be-

"STOP!!!"

---

Inuyasha was living an absolute nightmare.

It was bad enough that he was being slowly tortured and beaten, but with every slash of a blade across his flesh, every cracked bone or bruised spot that formed forced him to have flashbacks of memories long suppressed of the torment he was put through as a child after his mother's death. These rogue samurai were brutal; they all attacked at once, in a massive mob of swinging fists and slashing katana that seemed to blur to him. The hanyou could only try to break free of the chains holding his arms above his head as he felt his blood run down his body, feel the pounding of his injuries pulsating from several points on his body, and the sting of the cold on his wounds wasn't helping things much, either.

The leader suddenly called off his men, commanding them to back down from the battered hanyou. They obeyed, leaving him with what was left of their prey. He grabbed him by the hair between his two dog ears and tugged his head up to meet his gaze.

"Do you know what you are? Do you know why you are hated?"

"I'm a hanyou. I'm a fucking hanyou," the hanyou replied, spitting blood from his split lips into the human's face defiantly, showing his pride in his heritage. The rogue leader angrily slashed Inuyasha's face with a short knife stuck between his middle and pointer fingers before he continued.

"But do you know what you really are? You're a freak, an abomination, neither demon nor human," The human spat, drawing enjoyment from the hanyou's torment as he recalled having the same damn thing told to him when he was a pup.

"Has it ever occurred to you that someone out there might accept me?" He whispered challengingly, baring his fangs in a snarl. In retaliation, the human slashed across Inuyasha's chest with the same small blade enclosed in his fist.

"Let's face it; you are nothing. You're not even worth the equivalent of a rat. You don't even deserve the breath in your body."

He hated this. He absolutely loathed the memory of his previous torments, despised the reopening of old wounds he had attempted to forget long ago. The flashbacks of his childhood, and the way that they were mercilessly tormenting him now as he stood there, helpless once more and unable to save himself made him feel useless, weak, and small. His legs trembled with the want to give out underneath him, but he refused to allow them the satisfaction of watching him crumble. Though, he supposed, that he had already come to the brink of shattering. A sharp, nearly unbearable pain erupted from his left ear, and he allowed himself a muffled cry of pain.

"STOP!!!"

His head slowly rose to the sound of her voice, his dulled, hurt eyes trying to find her in the crowd of antagonists. When had she returned? How had he not picked up her scent approaching before? "Kagome," he whispered to himself, the name tasting sweet on his split and bloody lips, despite his current state. The crowd of men turned toward her voice, all glaring at her silently a moment. The leader, angered at having been disrupted, turned away from Inuyasha to interrogate the priestess.

"Who are you? And how dare you order us like that?" His chest puffed up, trying to show her his authority. Unfazed at the man's sad attempt to overpower her psychologically, she retorted,

"I am the priestess of this village, and Guardian of the sacred Shikon Jewel," to confirm her statement, she pulled on the chain the jewel hung from on her neck and lifted the purified gem up for them to see. Seeing that she was telling the truth, the henchmen began to panic amongst themselves, not wanting to anger someone of such a high spiritual standing and be damned to hell for it. Their leader attempted to restore order among them,

"Men, be reasonable-!" But his call fell on deaf ears as the rogues all backed away from her flaring aura. It visibly glowed so brilliantly around her that even the densest of them could clearly see that she was not one to be trifled with. And if there were any who doubted that she was more than happy to kick them out of her village, she had her shikigami paper dolls (that she had recently mastered in controlling) of Sango, Miroku, and a transformed Kirara (with flames, for added effect) poised for battle behind her.

So she tried not to smirk as they turned tail and cleared out of the village.

Calling off her shikigami, she left them to disintegrate as she ran to Inuyasha's side. "Inuyasha," she whispered once she stood before him. She lifted his head carefully. The eyes that stared back at here were blank and dull, but he pressed his face further into her hands all the same. She slowly ran her fingers along the edges of the slashes across his face, wiping away the streaks of blood oozing from them. She looked up at the chains binding his wrists to the metal railing on the roof before giving them an experimental tug to see if they would give. No such luck. "Shippo, come here!" She called, knowing that the fox kit was more than capable of hearing her with his heightened senses. Sure enough, the kitsune hesitantly hopped over to her side. "Please use your foxfire on these chains; they're charmed." She explained. Shippo nodded and hopped up onto the railing. In a burst of blue flames Inuyasha was free. His body collapsed gratefully against Kagome's as she caught him. His arms hung limply over her shoulders a moment before wrapping around her neck in a loose hug, his head dug into the crook of her neck, and his knees bent to allow his body to lean into her. She wrapped her arms under his and steadied him while he took a moment to gather his bearings. After a few moments, he straightened his legs and leaned on her for support to walk back to Kaede's hut.

Once they managed to get him safely in the hut, Kagome carefully sat him on a fresh mat and pressed his back against the wall. Pushing aside her shyness she pushed the sleeves of his haori down his shoulders and pushed what was left of it off of his torso. She had to bite back tears at the gruesome sight before her.

Gashes, both deep and shallow marred his entire upper body. Where there were broken ribs, dark bruises had formed where the bone was damaged, though thankfully only two were fractured. Several other, lighter bruises covered his neck and his arms. His stomach had been run through with a katana several times over in at least four places, though the wounds were small, they were deep. Though, what she was sure hurt him most, was the thick nail that they had driven into his left dog ear, and split the cartilage. She hurried to her previously forgotten backpack and pulled out one of many first-aid kits she had brought and hastily pulled out the bandages and ointment.

As gently as she could, she let her fingers dance across his marred skin, coating each wound with an ample amount of the sticky substance before she bandaged them up. Soon, his entire stomach, his left lower arm, and his right shoulder were wrapped up in bandages. The gashes on his chest had already scabbed over, but she applied some ointment on them anyway, just to be safe. Finished with his worst wounds, she pulled out a band-aid and carefully placed it over a rather nasty gash on his cheek that she had already bathed in the ointment. The others were already starting to heal as well, so she didn't cover them.

She seemed unaware that he was staring at her, so it was a shock to see him silently watching her tend to his wounds. She looked into his dulled, clouded golden eyes a moment before her hand lifted to let her fingers gently drag across and uninjured part of his cheek. The tears she had been suppressing, much to her horror, spilled from her eyes and fell into his lap.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she reached for the nail still impaling his left ear. As if to show her apology, she rubbed the base of it, so as not to agitate the wound further. "They…they put a nail in your ear…I have to take it out," he nodded dully but gave no indication that he cared anymore. He hardly flinched when she grabbed it and tugged it out in one swift movement. That wasn't like him at all…

…Oh no…he was shutting himself away again…

…Oh gods, no…

As if to test her theory, she pressed an apologetic kiss to the abused ear before she cleaned the blood bathed fur on it. Its uninjured tip gave a weak twitch in response. Instead of smile warmly like he did before, he merely angled his head and averted his eyes, like he was trying to hide his pain from her again. _'He must be in shock still, or he could be going through flashbacks'_ She began to rub his uninjured ear tenderly and murmur words of comfort into it in hopes that it would calm him down. He wasn't trying to shut her out, far from it in fact; he was trying to shut his thoughts out, if anything. They all screamed in his mind, echoes from the past still haunting him with harsh whispers that scraped and shredded his very soul. _'Kagome…I can barely hear you over-'_

_"You accursed half-breed!"_

_'Damn it all! Get out of my head!'_ To try and block the voices out, he pushed his ear farther into her hand. Kagome continued her ministrations unquestioningly, knowing the torment he was going through. She dragged her fingers through his hair to try and heal the wounds those voices were inflicting on him.

_"You deserve to die!"_

_'No! That's not true!'_ He just wanted this to stop…

_"Do you honestly think that you could ever be accepted anywhere?!?"_

_'But I am! Dammit just get out of my fucking head!!!'_ Kagome's warmth renewed his resolve, and he struggled even more internally to block out the flashbacks. Men, all beating him mercilessly, both from tonight and from all those years ago. The memories blended, and he wasn't sure which ones were which; he felt the same in both of them, and the men were all faceless to him, all bearing the mask of hatred and carrying the scent of disgust.

_"But do you know what you really are? You're a freak, an abomination, neither demon nor human."_

_'No…'_ He felt his conviction waver once more under the pressure of their accusing tones, as if it were his fault that he was born this way.

_"Let's face it; you are nothing. You're not even worth the equivalent of a rat. You don't even deserve the breath in your body."_ His will to fight suddenly left him, and suddenly the only thing he could cling to was Kagome.

She gasped as he clutched her closer to him in an almost desperate embrace and buried his nose into the crook of her neck in one swift movement. His claws barely pricked her skin though not enough to harm her as he held onto her like his life depended on it. Perhaps it did, but she was also his anchor to sanity; he needed her to simply function. Suddenly, he was afraid; afraid that she wasn't real, that none of _this_ was real. Unsure if he could trust his senses, believe in what his mind told him, he let his body investigate. He pressed a lingering kiss to her neck and waited with baited breath for her response.

He was not disappointed. She turned her nose into his hair and wrapped her arms around his head and neck, continuing to scatter gentle words over his battered body. The tension left his body as he slumped in relief and exhaustion, though never once let up his hold on her.

"Get some sleep, Inuyasha," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He lifted his head out of her neck and gazed at her wearily, albeit longingly.

"…Don't go…" his plea startled both of them; though they now knew of their feelings, and were a couple, he had never asked that of her so desperately, so…pleadingly before. But they both knew that there was merit to the request; they both knew that the moment she let go of him he would fall apart. So she gently stroked some of his hair in reassurance.

"I won't, I promise," she whispered back comfortingly. A faint spark of light returned to his eyes as one of his several inner demons born that night was put to rest: she wasn't going anywhere. His head returned to her neck with a soft growl of content. She smiled and smoothed his hair back from the slight mess she had made it. "I love you," she whispered in his dog ear as he let her scent lull him into sleep, vaguely realizing that the voices were quieted; not once did he hear any voice but that of the lovely angel in his arms.

---

It was late noon the next day when Kagome finally awoke. She sat up, unsure of how she had gotten in this position (she clearly remembered falling asleep sitting up in Inuyasha's arms). She looked around the hut in search of her hanyou, surprisingly enough finding him on the other side of the space, his arms crossed over Tetsusaiga as he absently looked out the window. Sensing her waking, he turned his head in her direction and regarded her a moment before grinning.

That startled her; he looked so…broken last night, after what those horrible people did to him. "Good morning," she muttered all the same, smiling warmly as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning," he mumbled as she crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"How are you feeling?" She asked softly, noting that his eyes, though they didn't sparkle nearly as much as they did before this ordeal, at least held more light in them now. His grin softened into a smile at her concern. It was just as he had thought; there was no point in second guessing his friends- no, he corrected himself- his family. And there was certainly no point in doubting her love for him; the thoughts were simply unfounded and stupid. After all, they went through so much together, the lot of them that he wasn't going to let a bunch of smelly bastards get the better of him. For once, he wasn't just saying that to hide his pain; he had actually thought about it long and hard throughout the night as he sat there quietly in Kagome's arms and for the first time in months, he doubted his new family.

But that had been foolish, thinking that he was alone in this like before. If any of his friends didn't like him or merely put up with him, they would have left the minute that they were given the chance. But they stayed, and they all settled in Kaede's village. Sure, Sango and Kohaku would still go back to the demon slayer's village and repair it bit by bit and train some of the new coming slayers, for they had currently been seeing more and more people, mostly travelers, end up staying for the thrill of becoming a demon slayer. So, the once abandoned village was beginning to slowly be reborn, but the siblings decided that they had found a new home amongst their friends that they simply couldn't bear to separate from. The bond that their group shared was all the healing that Inuyasha needed, and with Kagome as his intended (and his girlfriend) it made it all the better. So, in response to her question, he answered honestly and with no hesitation,

"I'm doing just fine Kagome," he said quietly as he held her close to his chest. He pressed a kiss to her temple before he nuzzled his nose into her hair.

"Really?" She asked, her voice wavering in uncertainly, hoping that he wasn't just hiding from her again. His smile widened in her hair.

"Really," he answered, tightening his arms around her. "I'm not at my best," he knew that he couldn't lie to her, not anymore. "But I will be in a little while," he closed his eyes in pure bliss. "I promise."

"How's your ear?" Kagome asked, looking at the bandaged appendage. It looked a little lopsided compared to the other one, but she could tell that it was well on the way to recovering.

"I can't really move it that much, but it's better than it was with that fucking nail in it," he whimpered at the memory, now that his mind was clear, he felt the physical pain much more. She smiled apologetically and gave it another kiss through the bandage. He blushed but smiled his gratitude all the same.

"I'm sorry; I pulled it out of you ear. It must have hurt," she said, giving him a little squeeze.

"Don't be. You had to do it. I'm grateful," he mumbled, glad no one else was here to see him being such a softy, since they had apparently left to attend to other matters. "Besides, I never was one for body pierces," he added with a wry smile. She giggled softly.

"Me neither. The thought never appealed to me. A bunch of my friends had it done several times after middle school graduation," she shivered at some of the places her friends got pierced (nothing really that bad: a cartilage here, a belly button there, and an occasional eyebrow or two). "But, umm," he was puzzled by her sudden shyness, her hesitation.

"But what?" He pressed.

"Are you really okay? You seemed so…out of it…" her voice trailed sadly. His eyelids drooped slightly. So that's what had her so nervous. She was concerned that he was just covering up his hurt again. Though, he couldn't really blame her; he really was down in the dumps yesterday.

"Kagome, look at me," he gently ordered. She did as he asked, looking up at him questioningly. "What those men did to me, yeah, it hurt, but I know that what they said was wrong. I am accepted, and I am loved, and not all people are like that. I realize that now," he chuckled under his breath a bit. "It took me long enough to see that," he added with a small smile. She beamed up at him.

"I'm so glad," she said, pressing a kiss to a bruise on his cheek. "I was really worried about you."

"Aren't you always?" He growled, though his tone was warm and far from accusing. She laughed softly though decided not to comment further. Inuyasha looked up as the others came in and couldn't help but grin. His friends…his family…his heart warmed at the idea of finally finding somewhere he belonged, and finding a mate that loved him for who he was.

He finally found acceptance after all.


End file.
